The tunnel will allow the street to be narrowed from 11 lanes to six, providing extra space for pedestrian zones and a 40 per cent enlargement of the riverside promenade.

"The Bund promenade is the most important public space for the city's residents," said Zhou Wei , Communist Party chief of Huangpu district. "This renovation will maximise the use of public space to create an elegant and comfortable promenade for residents and tourists alike, to make the Bund as charming as the Champs-Elysees and other internationally famous boulevards."

Major construction would be finished by the end of the year - on schedule - officials pledged. However the new-look riverside park will not open until March, almost three months later than expected.

The project is the first major revamp of the zone in decades, part of a mammoth drive to reinvent the city's public image ahead of the World Expo, which begins on May 1.

Today, though, the Bund is far from charming or tourist-friendly.

Works extend down the entire length of the road, leaving the street congested and large sections of the pavement difficult for pedestrians to cross.

Yesterday afternoon's heavy rain turned the street into a river of mud as it washed black silt from construction sites.

Views of the river are obscured by hoardings emblazoned with Shanghai Expo 2010 logos and artists' impressions of the project - some of them battered and torn from age - as the whole embankment promenade has been cordoned off while construction goes on.

"It's been going on for a long time. We just try to avoid this area if at all possible," said one taxi driver. "But I hope there will not be much longer to wait."

Tourists also expressed disappointment at the current state of the city's most famous street.

"It is a bit of a let-down because I was really looking forward to the view," said Kelly Marsh, visiting from England. "It's not quite as glamorous as I expected."

Other visitors, however, were more forgiving.

One Guangdong tourist was visiting with his wife and daughter.

"It is a mess now, but it's still under construction. Every building site in the world looks a mess," he said. "The works were much needed, and I'm sure it will be a big improvement once it is finished."

sure they are completely different, but u can compare any skyline with any other skyline. And in terms of skyline, Pudong has surpassed Manhatten.

How? Pudong alone have not nearly as many skyscrapers as Manhatten, and Pudong is really small compared to Manhatten. Even though you find many very awesome skyscrapers on Pudong that doesn't make their skyline greater than Manhatten.

The skyline of Manhattan is very different of course. And in my opinion very "grown up". I love the mix from old (Art Deco) buildings dotting the skyline and new glass buildings next to each other where in Lujiazui every building stands on it's own plot. But I really also like the futuristic skyscrapers of Lujiazui. It was like a dream to stand between them last year. However Lujiazui has only about 30 big skyscrapers where New York has hundreds.

I think we have to look furter than just Lujiazui if we want to compare skylines. Don't forget the skyline in Shanghai is way bigger than just the futuristic skyline of Lujiazui that you see on every picture. Shanghai has after all double the amount of skyscrapers of New York (lonely planet) But most of the people only see the few skyscrapers of the Lujiazui district.

HNA Hotels & Resorts is planning to acquire Jumeirah HanTang Xintiandi and Conrad Shanghai, two luxury hotels in Shanghai Xintiandi, the construction of both of which has been stopped due to the financial crisis.

These acquisitions are said to involve a total of CNY5 billion. According to Gao Tianming, president of HNA Hotels & Resorts, the transaction is still under consultation.

The investor and developer of the two hotels is Shanghai Li Xing Hotel Company, a joint venture of Shui On Group and Shanghai Hotel Investment Company. The two hotels were scheduled to open in 2008 but the openings were delayed due to impact of the financial crisis.

A week before this, HNA Hotels & Resorts signed an agreement with Skyfame Realty (Holdings) Limited to conditionally acquire all the equity of Chengjian Tianyu for a price of CNY1.1 billion. The main assets of Chengjian Tianyu include The Westin Guangzhou and Skyfame Building (not including the floors from the 17th floor to the 22nd floor which have been sold).